Echo Park is a cool, Los Angeles neighborhood, only about 5 minutes from the downtown LA business district. Echo Park is also one of the oldest neighborhoods in LA, and it has one of the oldest public parks in LA — Echo Park Lake. The area used to be a watershed, with water running from the LA River to the Pacific Ocean. In 1868, the city of LA built a dam to create a reservoir, and the lake has been a feature of Echo Park ever since. Originally, the lake was just a reservoir, but it opened as a public park in 1892, making it one of LA’s oldest public parks.

Join me as I take a walk around the lake, show you all the cool features and tell stories of its rich history, from 1868 through today.